


bruised knees

by noahczerns



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, i wrote this for myself considering hardly anyone ELSE ships this rip...., skater!noah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 05:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4992040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noahczerns/pseuds/noahczerns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So, about that skateboard…” Noah began, but Gansey was already shaking his head. “Please,” he begged, elongating the last syllable. He put his face inches from Gansey’s and pouted. Gansey closed his eyes and sighed; Noah knew he had won.</p>
<p>“Fine, fine.” Gansey muttered, waving his hand in defeat. “Where is this skateboard then?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	bruised knees

**Author's Note:**

> thank u to court for editing this for me love u :*

The harsh light from the little desk lamp was all that lit up the room in Monmouth Manufacturing. It highlighted the lines of Gansey’s face as he flipped through his worn out journal; a thing he had done many times before. He rested his head against his hand and sighed. He had searched through the pages often enough, rereading every sentence, but he still felt as though he was missing something. The room was a little colder than usual, so he knew that Noah was somewhere watching him. He didn’t mind; it made him feel less alone in his own head though it did creep him out slightly to know he was being watched. Still, it was only Noah, and he knew that Noah was just checking up on him. He leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, it already being messy and windswept from a day spent in Cabeswater.

“I’m so bored. Like, more than normal bored.” Gansey turned around to the sound of Noah’s voice. He was lying upside down on the bed, his limbs flailed in all directions. He wasn’t as faint as he usually was during the night, but Gansey still couldn’t quite make out where the darkness ended and Noah began. Noah looked up at Gansey and moved himself so he was sat on the bed cross-legged. His face brightened and a grin spread across his face when an idea popped into his head. He gripped the edge of the bed to prevent himself from falling off in his eagerness. “I found a skateboard the other day. Let’s go use it!”

“First of all, it’s the middle of the night. Second, I can’t skateboard.” Gansey replied, one eyebrow raised. “I also don’t want to ruin my shoes.” He lifted up his leg to showcase the brand-new pair of shoes on his feet, the faint glow of the lamp reflecting in the leather. Noah rolled his eyes at the comment about the shoes, as Gansey knew he would. Gansey still didn’t understand everyone’s problems with boat shoes; they were practical and comfortable in his opinion. What more could someone ask for from a shoe?

Noah uncrossed his legs and stretched them out in front of himself, inspecting his own 7 years old shoes. They were already worn and tatty when he was alive, covered in dirt with small tears at the sides from too much wear. He could have easily bought himself a new pair at the time, but he had enjoyed the worn look they gave. He also didn’t think that squeaky clean was very representative of who he felt he was. Quickly, he brought his gaze back up to Gansey again. “Who cares about your _shoes_? Anyway, I can teach you to skateboard. Then there'll finally be something cool about you.” Noah beamed widely, trying to convey his innocence after an obvious insult.

Gansey frowned, pretending to be hurt by the remark. “Hey, I’m cool.” He looked Noah directly in the eye and said in a deep voice, “I’m the coolest of the cool.” Noah covered his face with his hands and groaned, falling onto his back on the bed. Bouts of laughter escaped against his will, but it was muffled against his palms. “See, I can be funny!” he made a satisfied noise before turning around to return to his journals. He heard Noah get up behind him saw him walking towards him out of the corner of his eye.

“So, about that skateboard…” Noah began, but Gansey was already shaking his head. “Please,” he begged, elongating the last syllable. He put his face inches from Gansey’s and pouted. Gansey closed his eyes and sighed; Noah knew he had won.

“Fine, fine.” Gansey muttered, waving his hand in defeat. “Where is this skateboard then?”

“It’s in my room, let me go get it.” Noah grinned, his fists were clenched at his sides; he was refraining from jumping up and down. “Don’t go anywhere!” he warned, pointing two fingers at his own eyes and then Gansey’s before walking backwards out of the room to retrieve the skateboard.

He returned a few minutes later with an ordinary looking skateboard under his left arm, and a huge dopey smile plastered on his face. “Come on, let’s go!” he said hurriedly, pulling Gansey up from his desk with his free arm.

“Alright, alright. I’m coming.”  Gansey sighed. He found that Noah’s eagerness and excitement was often endearing, but not so much at 3am. “Haven’t you got any protection? Like a helmet or knee pads or… something? I don’t want you to get hurt, you know.”

“It’ll be fine. Stop worrying, man! I’m not _that_ bad at skateboarding. Even if I were, I'm dead. I can't get hurt. But we might want something for you. I don’t have anything though, sorry.” Noah shrugged his shoulders and dragged Gansey the remaining distance to the front door of their home that led to the unused parking lot. He let go of Gansey’s arm to open the door and led him outside to the dim street. The streetlights were still on, but the little light they were giving off was feeble and made the whole street look dreary. Noah didn’t mind though, he was too focused on skateboarding again with one of his best friends.

They walked down the short flight of steps that led to the pavement, the tapping of their shoes on stone echoed around the empty site. Noah was slightly ahead of Gansey, bumping the skateboard on each step. When they reached the parking lot, Noah set the skateboard onto the floor and looked at Gansey expectantly. Gansey took a step closer to the skateboard and hovered his foot over it hesitantly, flicking his eyes to Noah’s for reassurance. Noah held out his hands and said, “I’ll catch you if you fall. Go on.”

Gansey returned his gaze to the floor and slowly placed his foot onto the skateboard, inhaling sharply when it moved forward under his weight. His arms were stretched out in a similar way to Noah’s to hold his balance, their fingertips millimetres apart. He carefully moved his other foot forward in a walking motion, the tiny wheels of the skateboard scratched against the gravel as the skateboard began to move. He felt the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and he looked up at Noah once more. Noah smiled and gave him a thumbs up. “You’re doing great, but I’m sure you can go faster than that. There’s no speed limit, you know.” He winked and it was Gansey’s turn to roll his eyes.

“I’m only just getting started! Maybe I’ll be faster than you, huh?” Gansey retorted, growing more confident with each step he took. He was starting to gain pace so he put his other foot onto the skateboard too. Noah had to jog to keep up with him. Gansey felt the cold night air brush his face, although he wasn’t sure if it was naturally cold, or because Noah was in such close proximity. He looked at Noah and realised that he was panting slightly. Gansey’s face twisted in puzzlement. “How are you out of breath? You don’t even need to breathe?” His eyebrows knit together, trying to work out the intricate mechanics of being a ghost; dead with some elements of living.

Noah was ready to answer Gansey’s question with a snarky comment when he noticed the speed bump that Gansey was headed straight for. “Oh, fuck,” he mumbled, “Gansey, put your foot down or you’ll hit that thing head on!” Gansey raised one eyebrow, he was still lost in thought and was clearly not going to react in time. Noah put his own foot onto the skateboard in between Gansey’s feet, letting his other foot drag along the concrete, hoping to create some resistance. Noah was putting his whole weight onto the skateboard which meant that he was pressed up against Gansey, who had put his arms around him tightly. His effort merely scuffed up his shoes further as they continued to close the small gap between them and the speed bump. The skateboard was still moving quickly, and the _smack_  the wood made against the concrete came sooner than they had anticipated. The impact of the collision sent the skateboard flying from beneath the two boys’ feet, landing on its side a few feet away. Gansey let out a groan from beneath Noah, who had fallen on top of him. Their legs were tangled together, and Gansey’s arms were still wrapped around Noah’s torso. “Ugh… I think my whole body is bruised…” Noah took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Yeah, that didn’t exactly go to plan…” he sighed, whispering “sorry,” multiple times into Gansey’s chest. Gansey took one of his hands off Noah’s back and placed it in his hair, rubbing his thumb across Noah’s forehead reassuringly.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. I still had fun. These bruises aren’t going to be fun, though.” he smiled weakly, moving his hand to tilt Noah’s chin up so that he could look at his face. His lip was trembling slightly, but he tried to return Gansey’s smile.

“I didn’t want you to get hurt. I should’ve been looking, I should’ve…” he trailed off, there were so many things he should have done. He held out a shaky hand and traced the lines of Gansey’s face, feeling his warmth, the beating pulse beneath his skin, all the things that made him _alive_. He felt Gansey shiver under his cold touch and began to pull away, but Gansey took his hand and held it back to his face. He considered for a moment all the possible things he could do in this situation, Gansey laying beneath him, his hand in his, not a finger’s breadth between them. He chose the obvious solution. He leaned forward and placed his lips on Gansey’s, suddenly self-conscious of how cold they must feel. Gansey didn’t respond for a few moments, and Noah thought that he had interpreted it all wrong, had made the wrong choice. Then Gansey was kissing him back. Gansey was smiling, and it was warm in Noah’s mouth. Noah pulled back to take a breath, if he were still able to, his cheeks would have been glowing.

“I still don’t understand why you need to breathe.” Gansey said, almost laughing.

“Old habits die hard, I guess.” Noah replied, shrugging. He put his face into Gansey’s neck, relishing in his warmth.

“Next time you kiss me, I don’t want the bruises to be from falling.”

“It’s a deal,” Noah replied. He thought that maybe they should move from lying in the middle of a parking lot, but he was perfectly comfortable where he was.

 


End file.
